Chapter 9

“Silas, what are you doing here?” Kara stepped out fully from behind the ancient structure, both scimitars drawn. She wore a deep green set of leather covering her whole body with a matching half-mask that hung around her neck. It was similar to what she wore before but was far more practical for this area. In this terrain, she could be completely invisible if she wanted to.

He had only met them briefly, but in that time with the twins, they had been too kind when they shouldn’t have been. Too quick to trust him in their space. Between that and the glyph, he knew there was more to them. ‘Were they part of the red bandits? Was this originally an attempt to recruit him?’ Questions whirled in his mind with the shock of seeing her. Yes, he had come to find them, but this situation was too strange. He kept his sword in hand by his side, making sure to keep his body language passive, but circulated his mana to be ready in case things went wrong.

“You gave me the letter that day. You said I needed to find you if I needed work. On my way south, we were attacked by twenty men wearing that same tunic,” pointing at the dead man. “They claimed to be local guards, but their true motive was theft… we killed them all. When we arrived at the lake, I followed the glyph here only to find another scout. I will not be hunted like an animal through this countryside, so I did what I had to do to ensure that didn’t happen. Are you with them? Is that why you brought me here?” Silas ignited a blazing green fireball in his palm at his side, “if so, I will not go quietly.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s not get excited here.” She quickly said, raising her swords defensively. As she crossed her swords, a yellow-scaled bubble shimmered around her momentarily before disappearing. “Yes, I wanted to guide you here, and no, we aren’t with them. That man is, was, a local that we were hired to train, one of many, in infiltration and scouting. I will gladly explain everything if you calm down.”

Slowly, she lowered her scimitars and slid them back in place at her belt. Raising her hands again.

After several breaths, Silas pulled the mana from the green flame back into his core and extinguished the spell but did not replace his sword. “Let’s start at the beginning; why did you help me before?”

“Ah, that. Well, honestly, we were a little drunk that night from celebrating a job we completed, and it was just happenstance that we took your distraction to get out. As far as the letter, I don’t know. It just felt right to offer. Gut feeling, I guess.” She gave a slight shrug, walked closer, and sat on a nearby stone.

“Gut feeling?” Came a voice from behind his left shoulder. “That’s code for she thought you were cute.”

Silas turned his head slightly to see Antony landing lightly at the base of a tall tree twenty feet away.

“Enough teasing, brother, this is serious,” rolling her eyes.

Changing the subject, he turned back to Kara and continued, “Who are the reds, and why are they posing as guards but using the wrong colors?”

“Now that is a difficult one. Unfortunately, we were not paid to find that information, only to train. A small group of locals have taken up arms against these false guards. The Reds have killed a lot of merchants these last few months, and a lot of businesses have suffered. The true Holmberg guard has done little to seek a solution, so they decided to take the issue up themselves. They hired us to teach them to walk the walk. There was no way we could bring a group like that up to stand a chance truly, but a coin is a coin. That man you killed would have been the first to die with that stolen tunic.” She said as she walked over and pulled some items from the dead man’s pocket.

Continuing as she stood, “Regarding the colors, we have some suspicions. Holmberg is a relatively peaceful place on the surface, but the politics are brutal. Being this far away from The Crown makes those in charge feel like kings. There is a major power struggle going on between the three main fractions that seems to be reaching a boiling point. My assumption is one entity is paying them to cause problems for the others, but again, we have not been paid to find out definitively. While we have been here, though, the church and the Baron have been the most brutal.”

“Not to mention the highest paying as well,” Antony added.

“Who was your last job for?” Silas asked

Kara and Antony shared a look before she responded, “Why do you ask?”

Silas told them about the events that took place that morning with the three assassins. He omitted the bits with Xavi and the nature of his power for now. “What were they after? What did you take that they were willing to kill me to get to it?” He asked.

Antony held up his hand to stop Silas, “Hold on. So you mean to tell us they sent The Blade’s crew after us, and you escaped? That you killed Brutus himself plus his men? You also said earlier that you were confronted by twenty of the Reds, and you killed them all, too? Either you’re the true monster here, or you’re a liar.”

“Be still, brother. I promised him an explanation, and I sensed no lies from him. We will figure this out like we always do.” She turned back to face Silas while Antony began to pace, “Brutus was a local thug that worked primarily for the Baron. Occasionally a competitor for us, but extremely bloody. He had no qualms about leaving trails of bodies in his wake just for the fun of it, and his crew was efficient. The fact that they found us at all is impressive and worrying.”

“The job wasn’t a job. It was a personal fair well to the Baron. The bastard tried to short us on an information job we did for him, so we took something valuable in return.” She pulled out a small, multi-sided cube the size of a coin that hung from an expensive-looking chain. On each face were engraved runes that made his heart jump at the sight of them.

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Slowly, he reached out a finger, causing Kara to flinch.

“It’s alright. I'm not going to rob you; I just want to test something,” he assured her.

With a reluctant look at her brother, she reached out her palm.

The moment his finger touched the cube, every rune began to pulse, slowly alternating purple and green flashes of light. He looked down at his armor to see the engravings releasing a steady purple glow. Mesmerized, he looked up at Kara, who had a similar expression with a hint of confusion on her face.

“What are you doing to it? It’s never done that before,” she said in awe.

“I have no idea. I just touched it on a feeling.”

“It is a soul stone, Master,” Xavi said from behind his shoulder.

“Demon!” Antony shouted in surprise. He immediately shot back thirty yards using some escape skill and started firing arrows. Kara tumbled backward and drew her scimitars in a fluid motion as she recovered. A yellow, scaled bubble formed around her as she jumped and began slashing at Xavi.

Xavi giggled in the air as he dodged steel and arrows.

“Stop! He’s with me!” Silas yelled, but the twins were too engrossed in the unexpected visitor to listen. He tried to block a strike from Kara, only to catch a boot to the chest for his effort. Arrows continued to fly over him, aiming right for his familiar.

Xavi never made a move to attack. Only evading behind a bright, evil grin.

Frustrated, he stood and pulled mana to his throat, “STOP.”

Everything froze, including the stray arrowhead pressed against his ear.

“Calm down and listen to me. I trusted you, and now you need to trust me. Now I am going to release the spell, but you need to remain calm,” Silas strained as he held the spell, sweat beginning to form on his forehead. “Please.”

Finally, he let go, causing everyone to clatter to the ground. The arrow that had been pressed against him fell harmlessly away.

“Explain, now!” Kara said through gritted teeth.

“Do not reveal anything, master. Kill them and take the soul stone. We need to be on our way.”

Both of the twin’s muscles tensed at the proclamation.

“Stop it, Xavi. No one is dying here, and I won’t steal from them either. Everyone relax.”

Silas turned fully to Kara and reached out a hand to help her up. After a moment, she reluctantly grasped it, and he helped her off the ground.

Antony sighed, “Don’t mind me. I’ll stand on my own, thanks.” Kara rolled her eyes as she brushed herself off.

Silas left nothing out—gore and all. Kara had been honest with him, and it felt good to tell someone the crazy events that occurred. A weight truly lifted off his shoulders. Xavi had made several comments about him giving away his secrets, but he ignored him. After an hour, he finished.

“By the gods, a bloody Warlock,” Antony said with a shake of his head. “You’re supposed to be a bedtime story for small children. Not some dream-haunting, God-blessed monster with a demon pet.”

“I’m not a pet, human,” Xavi said sharply, “I am bonded by choice by my god to help my master grow. You will not belittle that with your ignorance.”

“It’s alright, Xavi. He’s just in shock.” Silas patted the imp on the shoulder.

Kara rose and turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. “What does this soul stone do?”

Silas looked at Xavi, but his familiar made no move to answer. “Xavi?”

“It’s a private matter, Master Dreamwhisper. One you and I should discuss privately.” Stressing the last word.

“No, my friend. No more secrets, no more waiting for answers. Tell me.”

Xavi paused and tilted his head, “Friend?” After a long moment, he let out an over-exaggerated sigh, “Fine. If a Warlock wares that pendant, any kill empowers it further with the life taken. In turn, the user can summon more power to bolster their spells beyond their already heightened capabilities.”

“Adversely, if normal humans attempt to use it without being an extremely powerful magic user, they would explode. Violently. If they were, however, powerful enough to survive, they would be mentally warped from the experience, with a very strong chance of physical manifestations occurring as well. Items like this are mythical even to us. It is so incredibly rare that I am utterly shocked to see it at all. Human girl, who did you say you took this from again? Could they have more objects like this?” Looking straight at Kara.

She didn’t move, back still turned. “The Baron. And I don’t believe so.”

“Where did he acquire this from?” Xavi pressed.

Antony spoke before she could answer, “It was the reason we ended up here in the first place. We were working to the southeast in a town a week’s ride away and received word of a local ruler needing people with our skill set. He was paying a rediculas sum for anyone willing to retrieve a mysterious treasure from an ancient crypt. The caveat was that it was guarded by an impenetrable barrier that no one had cracked. Since my sister is obsessed with glyph work and truly the best I’ve seen, we decided to take the challenge. We, of course, succeeded, and that was that. However, when the Baron tried to shaft us on the last job, as she said, we decided he didn’t want the treasure as much as he originally implied, so we took it back as payment. That and she wouldn’t shut up about it.”

Kara interrupted him and addressed it herself: " I have been having strange dreams ever since I cracked the barrier, dreams calling for me to return the object to its rightful owner.” She returned to her seat at their makeshift camp, which they had made for their conversation. “That was why I left the letter for you. Something about you made me feel like I needed to reach out.”

Antony scrunched up his face in confusion, “You didn’t tell me that. You didn’t tell me about any of that.”

“Of course I didn’t, brother. You’re an idiot, and I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Hey! I absolutely would have worried; I would have helped, though.” He paused, “Wait! I’m not an…”

Xavi interrupted him with a roaring laugh, “Stupid human!” He started rolling on the ground and continued laughing.

“Enough, Xavi. Kara, thank you for sharing this with me. I would like to know more about your dreams, but first, could you take us back to where you found this item? I would like to see it for myself,” he asked, placing his hand over hers.

She looked out at the high trees surrounding them. It was well past midday at this point, and a cool breeze had swept in from the lake, causing the temperature to drop rapidly. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the last rays of sunshine for the day while considering her options.

If they returned, it would be difficult to explain the dead local and newcomer simultaneously. The rebel group was already on edge as it stood with their predicament. ‘If we wait till nightfall to sneak in, we could be on our way by morning,’ she thought.

She nodded, “We need our supplies from the camp before we can leave. We will return here after we collect what we need and then be on the road by sunrise. Would that give you enough time to collect your things and be ready?” she asked, not moving her hand.

“Actually, sister,” Antony interceded, “I thought I could return alone to gather our things. It would be easier to explain the absences if I told them you’re starting another level of training. I could be back in a couple of hours under the guise of a night mission.”

After several breaths, she finally conceded, “Fine, but be safe. If anyone starts asking questions, get out and leave the supplies. We can replace things, but I can’t replace you, brother.”

Antony stood and gave an exaggerated bow, “Of course, Mother.” He shot off using his escape skill, flying back just barely dodging the rock Kara tossed at him with her free hand. The other still holding Silas’.

“Speaking of supplies, where is my cart, Xavi?”

The imp shifted nervously, eyes moving between Silas and Kara, “Um, about that master…”